Literacy
Posted inCurrent Events in Education

35 years later, High School reading lists still lack diversity, NCTE study finds

by Cheryl Adams

According to a study funded by the NCTE, despite nationwide efforts to diversify texts used by teachers in secondary English literature classrooms, the list of books most taught by the nation’s teachers is written by dead, white men. In the study “The State of Literature Use in US Secondary English Classrooms,” funded by the National […]

Posted inLiteracy

Elephant in the Classroom: Parents Aren’t Reading to Their Kids! 

by R.S. Hill

Podcasters, pundits, comedians, bloggers, and professors rant, joke, and expound on what is wrong with American education and how to fix it. They present their lists of punch-line problems coupled with foolproof solutions that make educating American youth seem a simple person’s game. Whether they recommend more gamification, abolishing standardized tests, social-emotional learning, banning smartphones, […]

Posted inLiteracy

Lawsuit Claims Popular Literacy Programs Fail Students with Anti-Phonics Approach

by TER Staff

Boston, MA – In a landmark lawsuit filed on December 4, 2024, a group of parents and students filed a lawsuit this week in Suffolk County Superior Court against several prominent creators and publishers of early literacy curricula. The plaintiffs allege that the defendants engaged in deceptive marketing and sold flawed products that omitted critical […]

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The Decoding Threshold: Measuring the roots of older students’ reading difficulties

by TER Staff

Despite the expectation that students master basic reading skills by third grade, many continue to face challenges with reading well into upper elementary school and beyond. A recent study, commissioned by the Advanced Education Research and Development Fund (AERDF), has revealed a troubling trend: 44% of grade 3–8 teachers report that their students frequently have […]

Posted inInstruction & Curriculum

 Don’t Skimp on Social Studies! Write to Learn in History Class!

by TER Staff

By Rhonda van Bergen In many elementary classrooms today, literacy has taken center stage as new standards in reading and writing are implemented. Teachers spend significant time teaching English Language Arts (ELA) skills and strategies to prepare students for high-stakes testing in those areas. Unfortunately, content area instruction in science and social studies often takes […]